RayburnGuy

Give it a try Al. I think you'll like it. My computer is a little faster after it runs each time. Of course it slows back down over time as all the tracking cookies, and other internet garbage, reloads itself every time you visit a website. Another program I like is Crap Cleaner. It has a free version as well and has several tools included that are really helpful. Ben

Nice catch Al. Forgot about Malwarebytes. I have it as well and run both of them. Ben

Have you tried running any anti-spyware programs Basseducer? I've been using a program called Super Anti Spyware. It's a free download and has been working well for me. Don't have a link so just do an online search and you should find it. good luck, Ben

Hey guys, The only way I've found to make that work is to go to the main "Forums" page and click on the desired forum you want to read. For example, if you want to read new posts in the Hard Baits section then click on that forum. Once there you will see the familiar "star" beside the new posts. Click on the star and it will carry you to the first unread post of that particular thread. You will have to do this for each individual forum. It's not as quick and simple as the old way, but it does work. This has been mentioned to Curt and hopefully they will find a way to restore this feature once they get all the kinks worked out of the new site. Ben

If you'll use one of the higher density balsa woods you won't need to use through wire construction. It will be strong enough to use epoxied hook hangers/line ties and will be "livelier" than PVC. I shied away from balsa when first starting to build lures because I didn't like using through wires. Now that I'm using a balsa that weighs in at around 18 lbs. per cubic foot it's a joy to work with. No more need for a wire through. It shapes and sands easily and it's buoyant enough that it makes a lively crank. just my , Ben

Years ago when I used to deer hunt there was a certain feminine hygiene product that was great for soaking in doe estrus. It had a string attached to it that made it easy to tie to a twig or low hanging limb. Talk about getting weird looks when I'd go to the store and buy a package of those things. I live in a small town where everybody knows each other so they knew I wasn't married at the time. I just smiled and didn't say a word. Ben

Couldn't be said any better Woodie. Ben

The copper is not about giving any color to a chrome finish and it's not there to give the chrome a smooth finish. It is there because chrome can't be applied directly to a plastic surface. It won't stick. Chrome will stick to copper however so they first apply the copper to the lure. and then apply the chrome over the copper. Ben

Nice jigs Fatman. Gonna have to follow you to the boat ramp and see if anything falls out of your tacklebox. Ben

I just weighed one of the circuit board lips that I use on small cranks. It seems comparable in size to the lip shown in the photo above. It weighed 0.7 grams. That's not much. The material you choose for a lip has to hold up to a good bit of abuse. The plastic that CD cases are made from is not going to do that as you've already found out. If you look in the gallery at baits built by TU members you will usually find the lips are made from 1 or 3 materials. Lexan, (the brand name for polycarbonate) circuit board or metal. Ben

Glad to hear that Richard. Looks like it's going to be a good year. We've already got good news. Ben

Hey Skimpy, Highlight the "Browse" button at the top of the page and then click on "Forums" in the drop down menu. Scroll down toward the bottom of the page and you will see "Member Submitted Tutorials" under a black bar that says "Knowledge Base". Ben P.S. Your gonna have to stop making these great vids. You make it look too easy and I can't afford to build crankbaits and pour plastics too. J/K Love your stuff.

Thanks Richard. Hope you have a great New Year as well. From reading the title of your post are you leaving us? Hope not. Your a great contributor to TU. Ben

My pleasure Dale. Let me know how it goes with the enamel and KBS. Ben

Thanks for the heads up Woodie. Ben

I've only used it on a few baits Dale, but one thing I noticed was how easy it was to build up the color. I thinned the enamel at about 2 parts paint to one part enamel thinner. When I started spraying it there seemed to be almost no color on the bait. After a couple passes you could start seeing the color. Similar to spraying transparent paint, but at an even higher transparency than what I'm used to when spraying Createx, Auto Air or Wicked paints. It was very easy to slowly build the color up. The more coats you put on the darker it got. If I read your question right then yes, it could be sprayed on in light coats to give a hint of color. Keep in mind that it has to be compatible with your clear coat. If your using a solvent based clear I would suggest getting a 1/4 ounce bottle of Testors (less than $2 @ Hobby Lobby)and doing a test piece. If your using an epoxy then there should be no problem. Ben

Thanks Glenn. Not sure which way I'm going to go yet, but I will check into the latex enamel. Ben

You could have something there Glenn. I may have to try spraying another enameled bait with DN just to see what happens. I have not tried latex enamel. This was my first time spraying enamel so I know pretty much nothing about it. Does the latex enamel look the same as the petroleum based paint? Thanks Glenn. Ben

Thanks Bob. I'll pass it along and see what he says. Ben

And you call me cruel? Ben

My pleasure Mike. What I'm considering isn't for everyone and it may not be for me in the long run. Learning new, and different, ways of doing things has always been something I've enjoyed. IMO if you quit learning, no matter how old you are, your short changing yourself. The more you use your "tools" the less likely they are to rust. Just my . Ben P.S. Here's an update on using DN with enamel paint. The first bait that was painted using enamels was top coated by spraying DN moisture cure. Everything went well. No bubbling, cracking, wrinkling or anything. Cured to a smooth hard finish. Things went south on the second bait even after the paint had cured for several days. This time the only difference was in how the DN was applied. It was brushed on this time and just seconds after coating the bait it wrinkled the paint, but it seemed like only the last layer or so of the paint was affected. It didn't go all the way to the bone so to speak. I have no idea why the sprayed bait was OK, but the brushed bait was not. My solution? Don't use DN over enamel.

Mike, I was just really impressed with the way the enamel sprayed. It went on much smoother than the Createx, Auto Air and Wicked paints I normally use. The enamel seemed to atomize much better as well. You could thin the enamel way thinner than you could the water based paints. If you try to thin water based paints too much they loose their adhesion properties. I don't know for sure, but I would guess that you could thin the enamel to around 50/50 and it would still work. It could possibly be thinned even more than that. If so you could cut the price of paint close to half. I mix a lot of my colors using water based paints, but even when the color was close the water based just didn't look the same. The enamel was much brighter and the colors seemed more vivid. The thing that sort of turns me off about the enamel is how long it takes to dry/cure. Some things I've read claim that some enamels can take 24 to 48 hours. I'm just not that patient so that's why I was checking into lacquers. This isn't a done deal yet. I'm still reading up on things and taking a lot of things into consideration. Things like cost of the paint, availability, health hazards, etc. will all weigh into my final decision. Ben

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